The Best Montreal Restaurant in Each and Every Category!

montreal-restaurant

A Gigantic List of Montreal Restaurants is something I'm never able to find...

So I decided to build my own list. I give this list to friends and family visiting from out of town.

There are always those special restaurants in a vacation, that are not just special, they are "super special" -- So outstanding that you would go back to Montreal just for the food!

I turned to Montrealers, tourists, and the Montreal Mirror polls (a local newspaper) for inspiration on the best places. I set some criteria, opened up my mouth and stomach, and drafted this list.

This is the best of the best. The Magic of a Montreal Smoked Meat, the creme-de-la-creme of Chinatown, Montreal's finest pizza and sushi place (and pizza sushi place!).

Enough talk! Without further ado, here is the Most Complete and Best Montreal Restaurant List ever assembled...

NEW: a whole section for Montreal vegetarians. Three cheers for vegetables! click here

Best Pub Grub (All phone numbers have the area code 514)

  • 1. McKibbins Irish Pub (1426 Bishop, 288-1580)
  • 2. Peel Pub (1107 Ste-Catherine W., 844-7296)
  • 3. Hurley’s Irish Pub (1225 Crescent, 861-4111)
  • 4. Le Pistol (3723 St-Laurent, 847-2222)

    Me at Patati Patata

    Best Montreal Restaurant Cheap Eats

  • 1. Al-Taïb (2125 Guy, 931-1999; 2002 Mackay)
  • 2. McDonald's (various locations)
  • 3. La Belle Province (various locations)
  • 4. Patati Patata (4177 St-Laurent, 844-0216)
  • 5. Any 99 cent pizza (various locations)




    Josh (me) outside of Moishe's

    Best Montreal Restaurant Pricey Eats

  • 1. Moishe's Steakhouse
  • 2. La Queue de Cheval Steakhouse Montreal restaurant(1221 René- Lévesque W., 390-0090)
  • 3. Gibby's (298 Place d'Youville, 282-1837)
  • 4. Chu Chai (4088 St-Denis, 843-4194)
  • 5. Globe (3455 St-Laurent, 284-3823)

    TIP: Chu Chai makes the best immitation meat in the world. It's legendary for vegetarians. If you or someone else you're with is vegetarian, this restaurant is a great way to impress them.

    Best Late-Night Eats

    ---------------------------- April 2007 Update: Sometimes my tummy rumbles late at night and holds me hostage until I feed it. I've added this page to help when your own stomach can't be muffled by a mere pillow... ----------------------------

  • 1. Picasso Serre (6810 St-Jaques W., 484-2832)
  • 2. La Banquise (994 Rachel E., 525-2415)
  • 3. Al-Taïb (2125 Guy, 931-1999; 2002 Mackay)
  • 4. The Main (3864 St-Laurent, 843-8126)
  • 5. Moe's (various locations)

    EDIT: I would have put Sasha's middle eastern restaurant as #1 but the best location, on St-Laurent and Prince Arthur was closed last year. The hungry night owls of Montreal are still mourning.

    Best Montreal Restaurant For Breakfast

  • 1. Beauty's
  • 2. Cosmos (5843 Sherbrooke W., 486-3814)
  • 3. Senzala(various locations)
  • 4. Eggspectations (various locations)
  • 5. Tutti Frutti Déjeuner (various locations)

    Best Montreal Buffet

  • 1. Buffet Maharaja (1481 René-Lévesque W., 934-0655)
  • 2. Le Commensal (various locations)
  • 3. Buffet Vichy (various locations)
  • 4. Buffet La Stanza (various locations)
  • 5. Casa Corfu (3177 Masson, 727-5250)

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    Fun Fact: Buffet Maharaja is the largest Indian cuisine buffet in North America!

    Fun Fact: Le Commensal is 100% Vegetarian, but there's so much selection that a meat eater may not even notice!

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    le-nil-blue-montreal-ethiopan African Montreal Restaurant

  • 1. Le Nil Bleu (3706 St-Denis, 285-4628)
  • 2. Abiata (3435 St-Denis, 281-0111)
  • 3. Au Messob D'Or (5690 Monkland, 488-8620)
  • 4. Afro-Fusion (RIP)
  • 5. Keur Fatou (66 St-Viateur W., 277-2221)

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    Fun Fact: It is not rude to eat African food with your fingers, in fact it is encouraged!

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    montreal-caribbean Best Caribbean

  • 1. Ma's Place (5889 Sherbrooke W., 487-7488)
  • 2. Caribbean Curry House (6892 Victoria, 733-0828)
  • 3. L Corridor (3655 St-Laurent, 350-5320)
  • 4. Mango Bay (1202 Bishop, 875-7082)
  • 5. Jardin de Cari (21 St-Viateur W., 495-0565)

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    TIP: When the Montreal winter has frozen my frown to my face, I sometimes go for Caribbean food, and among the fake palm trees, coconuts and Bob Marley music, I feel my will to live start to thaw!

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    Montreal-chinese-food Best Chinese

  • 1. La Maison VIP (1077 Clark, 861-1943)
  • 2. Beijing (92 de la Gauchetière W., 861-2003)
  • 3. Soupe et Nouilles (1871 Ste-Catherine W., 933-0531)
  • 4. Hot and Spicy (various locations)
  • 5. Wok Café (1845 Ste-Catherine W., 938-1882)

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    TIP: The best place to get cheap, authentic, quality Chinese food is, not surprisingly, Montreal Chinatown. Montreal's Chinatown is tiny compared to those of Vancouver and Toronto. Click here to learn more about Montreal's Chinatown. ---------------------------

    Best French Montreal Restaurant

  • 1. L'Express (3927 St-Denis, 845-5333)
  • 2. Toque! (3842 St-Denis, 499-2084)
  • 3. L'Académie (4051 St-Denis, 849-2249)
  • 4. Le Paris (1812 Ste-Catherine W., 937-4898)
  • 5. Holder (407 McGill, 849-0333)

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    FUN FACT: The Montreal restaurant Toque! is almost always included in reviewers' "Best of Montreal" lists and is usually ranked #1. But be warned, Toque! is extremely upscale and not recommended for those with picky palettes or those on any sort of budget this side of wanting to go bankrupt. Personally, I can't find anything there to eat -- I prefer the burger joints!

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    arahova-souvlaki-montreal Best Greek

  • 1. Arahova (various locations)
  • 2. Marathon Souvlaki (various locations)
  • 3. Marven’s (880 Ball, 277-3625)
  • 4. Milos (5357 Parc, 272-3522)
  • 5. Jardin de Panos (521 Duluth E., 521-4206)

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    Best B"eh"gel

    Ah, the Montreal bagel! Italy has pizza and China's got the fortune cookie, but Montreal's got the bagel!

    Mmmm, even talking about it makes me want to walk across the room and open my bread drawer.

    Montreal-bagels

    The secret to the montreal bagel is the wood oven.

    This lip smacking, versatile breakfast-lunch-dinner-or snack food has become more holy than the Catholic Church (get the pun?).

    So the question is... what Montreal restaurant bakes the best bagel?

    In NO PARTICULAR ORDER, the finalists are...

    (drum roll please) badabadabadabadbadba

  • 1. St–Viateur (263 St-Viateur W., (514) 276-8044)
  • 2. Fairmount (74 Fairmount W., (514) 272-0667)
  • 3. R.E.A.L. Bagel (various locations)
  • 4. DAD’s Bagels (5732 Sherbrooke W., (514) 487-2454)
  • 5. Faubourg’s The Bagel Place (1616 Ste-Catherine W., (514) 931-2827)

    SEPTEMBER 2007 UPDATE: My favourite has always been R.E.A.L Bagel, probably because it was the closest bagel place growing up. But does that make it the best... or just the most convenient??

    Writing this "best Montreal Restaurant" list got me thinking (and hungry! Very, very hungry), so in September 2007 I decided to become what I'm calling a 'culinary scientist.'

    I bought piping hot bagels from each Montreal bagel bakery and invited my friends Greg and Ryan to do a blind taste test.

    We chewed. We swallowed. We furiously marked our answers.

    Our results may surprise you. They surprised me...

    Curious, I did some research on the bagel...


    montreal-aux-vivre-restaurant ---------------------------

    Vegetarian Fare "Show me the lettuce!"

  • 1. Le Commensal (various locations)
  • 2. Aux Vivres (4631 St-Laurent, (514) 842-3479)
  • 3. Chu Chai (4088 Saint- Denis, (514) 843-4194)
  • 4. Pushap (various locations)
  • 5. Lola Rosa (545 Milton, (514) 287-9337)
  • 6. Bonny's Vegetarian and Organic Cuisine (748 Notre-Dame Street West (near Seigneurs and Guy)

    UPDATE: September 2007

    Bonny's has re-opened with a bigger menu, bigger venue, and same-old Bonny! I was lucky enough to be among the first in the doors. With a bigger, badder Bonny's, this vegetarian Montreal restaurant is fast bcoming the 'buzz' of the vegetarian community, and a definite contender for best vegetarian restaurant on the island...

    And if Le Commensal wants to keep its crown it's going to have to keep one eye on Bonny!

    Click here for more vegeterian info.

    Oh, don't think I don't know what you're thinking:

    "Josh, how could you possibly leave ____ restaurant off the list?!"

    Well here's your chance to remind me.

    Maybe you've visited Montreal in the past and had a special meal. Maybe you live here and have a crush on a waitress...

    Let me know...

    And I'll publish your thoughts on this site.

    This is your chance to be heard.

    I Recommend This Restaurant
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